Compared to other renewable energy technologies, offshore wind still makes up a small part of global power generation. Today, there is slightly less than 19 GW of installed offshore capacity, two-thirds of which is generated by G7 countries. Indeed, the offshore wind sector has so far been a largely European affair. The ten largest sites in terms of capacity are all located in Europe. The United Kingdom and Germany are pioneers in the sector, and today provide over 90 percent of the G7’s wind power generation.
But the global growth trend is impressive: Costs have been falling rapidly and are expected to decline by a further 30 percent by 2030, leading to an expected growth in installed capacity to 128 GW by 2030 and 521 GW by 2050. Investments in offshore wind could reach $350 billion by 2030 and potentially $1.47 trillion by 2050.
IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. said, “Offshore power has wind in its sails as it has now developed into a commercially mature technology. If growth trends continue along with more enabling regulatory environments and standardization it will be key for global efforts to decarbonize the energy sector and meet climate objectives. G7 countries have an opportunity to demonstrate leadership by further accelerating the development of offshore renewables, while reaping its socio-economic benefits.”
Overall, accelerating the deployment of renewable energy would significantly stimulate economic activity additional to the growth that could be expected under a business as usual approach. IRENA’s Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050 concludes that a growth of the global share of renewables in total primary energy supply to two-thirds by 2050 would increase global GDP by an amount of $52 trillion while creating approximately 19 million new jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and grid enhancement.
